Washington DC Frequency Coordination

Guest Speaker: John Poray, Ray Benedict, Ralph Beaver, Jim Snyder

July 24, 2007

A meeting was held to begin the process of creating a mechanism for future frequency coordination in Washington, DC, as WEBE (Washington Executive Broadcast Engineers) is only prepared to continue this task through the end of the year. Additionally, the Chapter nominated new board members.

Our Guest speakers were John Poray (SBE's Executive Director), Ralph Beaver (Chair, SBE Frequency Coordination Committee), Ray Benedict (former SBE President), and James Snyder (current DC Frequency Coordinator and President of the WEBE group). Along with our notable list of guest speakers, we had an equally notable list of meeting attendees. Literally, the gatherning was a "Who's Who" in DC broacast engineering. We were delighted to see so many friendly faces.

John Poray took the floor and outlined the nominations process. A number of possible board members were nominated. The election will take place Saturday, August 18, at the Annual Picnic. Nominees include:

Chuck Bullett

Roger Dufault

Eric Hoehn (Certification)

Fee Lee

Dan Ryson (Vice Chair)

Tom Shedlick

Ken Sleeman (Secretary or Certification)

Following the nominations, the group began a "brainstorming session" regarding DC's future needs for frequency coordination. Present DC coordinator James Snyder and Tampa, Florida coordinator Ralph Beaver outlined what the job entails. Ray Benedict explained some upcoming frequency coordination challenges, such as the need to coordinate with AWS licensees regarding the location of 2 GHz fixed receive sites in the area.

Washington Redskins "Gameday" Frequency Coordinator Bill Sien explained that he coordinates all local NFL games. Thus, that task would not need to be filled.

It was agreed that at least two people (perhaps one "Radio" and one "TV" person) should share the task, each providing backup for the other during busy times, vacation, etc. James Snyder said that he might be willing to stay on past the end of the year but really would like some help. He also expressed the need to update his records regarding who is using what frequencies.

The question of whether area licensees should continue to contribute a nominal fee for continued financial support for the frequency coordination effort (as is the model for the WEBE program) was also discussed. It was suggested that a committee be established to work out how such a plan. An e-mail listserver will be established to facilitate this effort.